Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Mrs Dorothy Brown, Mr John Cotton, Mrs Margaret Davies, Mrs Pat Dawe, Mr Stephen Harrod, Ms Ann Purse and Mr Christopher Quinton tendered apologies.

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.  

None.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Council minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2012 (previously circulated).

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2012 as a correct record and agree that the Chairman sign them as such.

The Chairman thanked Corporate Strategy for arranging the Woolly Pully and Charity Book Sale events which raised £195 for her charities. She also thanked Emma Dolman and her team at Cornerstone for arranging the Swingtime Charity Concert which raised £3,370 for her charities.

The Chairman reminded councillors of her forthcoming charity dinner taking place on Friday 5 April 2013 at The Oxfordshire Golf Club, Thame and her charity sale on 6 March.

None.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 14 February 2013, will consider a monitoring report on the treasury management activities for the first six months of 2012/13.

The report of the Head of Finance, which Cabinet will consider on 14 February 2013, was circulated to all councillors. Please bring this report to the meeting.

The recommendation of Cabinet will be circulated to councillors on Friday 15 February.

Council considered Cabinet’s recommendation, made at its meeting on 14 February 2013, on the treasury management activities for the first six months of 2012/13 and an update on the current economic conditions with a view to the remainder of the year. 

RESOLVED: to approve the report of the Head of Finance to Cabinet on 14 February 2013.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 14 February 2013, will consider a report on the approval of the treasury management strategy, the annual investment strategy and the prudential indicators.

The report of the Head of Finance, which Cabinet will consider on 14 February 2013, was circulated to all councillors. Please bring this report to the meeting.

The recommendation of Cabinet will be circulated to councillors on Friday 15 February.

Council considered Cabinet’s recommendations, made at its meeting on 14 February 2013, on the approval of the treasury management strategy 2013/14 to 2015/16, the annual investment strategy and the prudential indicators and limits for 2013/14 to 2015/16.

RESOLVED: to approve:

a.      the treasury management strategy 2013/14 to 2015/16, incorporating the annual investment strategy, contained within appendix A of the report of the Head of Finance to Cabinet on 14 February 2013;

b.      the prudential indicators and limits for 2013/14 to 2015/16, contained within appendix A of the report of the Head of Finance to Cabinet on 14 February 2013.

Cabinet, at its meeting on 14 February 2013, will consider a confidential report   to agree an addition to the approved capital programme for 2012/13 for a land acquisition in Didcot.

The report of the Strategic Director, which Cabinet will consider on 14 February 2013, was circulated to all councillors. Please bring this report to the meeting.

The recommendation of Cabinet will be circulated to councillors on Friday 15 February.

Mrs J Nimmo-Smith declared that she did not have a disclosable pecuniary interest in this item but she was associated with one of the parties. She took no part in the discussion or voting on the item but remained in the room.

Council considered the confidential report of the Strategic Director and agreed to recommend Council to agree an addition to the approved capital programme 2012/13 for land acquisition at Didcot, as set out in the report.

RESOLVED: to add a sum of £1 million as a supplementary estimate to the approved capital programme 2012/13 for land acquisition at Didcot.

The Cabinet, at its meeting on 14 February 2013, will consider a report on the council’s revenue budget 2013/14 and capital programme to 2017/18.

The report of the Head of Finance, which Cabinet will consider on 14 February 2013, was circulated to all councillors. Please bring this report to the meeting.

The recommendation of Cabinet will be circulated to councillors on Friday 15 February.

Council noted the report of the Chief Finance Officer on the robustness of the budget estimates and the adequacy of the reserves.

Mr D Dodds, Cabinet member for finance, presented the Cabinet’s proposals for the revenue budget 2013/14 and capital programme to 2017/18. 

Mr D Dodds moved and Mrs E A Ducker seconded a motion to approve Cabinet’s recommendations as follows:

That Council:

1.      sets the revenue budget for 2013/14 at £11,684,623 and the council tax requirement as £6,187,635, as set out in appendix A1 of the report of the Head of Finance to Cabinet on 14 February 2013;

2.      approves the capital programme for 2013/14 to 2017/18 as set out in appendix C of the report of the Head of Finance to Cabinet on 14 February 2013, together with the capital growth bids set out in appendix D of the report;

3.      sets the council’s prudential limits as listed in appendix F of the report of the Head of Finance to Cabinet on 14 February 2013;

4.      approves the medium term financial plan to 2017/18 as set out in appendix G of the report of the Head of Finance to Cabinet on 14 February 2013;

5.      allocates £1 million to fund the Community Investment Fund grant scheme.

Mrs E Hards moved and Mr D Turner seconded an amendment to the above budget in the following terms:

That Council sets the revenue budget and capital programme taking account of the proposed changes as set out in the schedule - “opposition forum budget proposal”- (attached to the minute book copy of these minutes). 

The amendment to the revenue budget proposed funding for 48 councillors to have an allowance of £10,000 each to spend on small projects in their wards. The proposal included £20,000 to cover the cost of administering the scheme. The total cost of £500,000 for 2013/14 would be funded from the enabling fund.

The amendment to the capital programme proposed to increase the Broadband Fund for improvements to broadband coverage across the district by a further £500,000 per annum for two years making a total of £2,000,000 rather than the Cabinet’s budget proposal of £1,000,000. The additional cost would be met from the usable capital/revenue reserves.

A number of councillors spoke in support of the amendment.  Providing councillors with an allowance, similar to the Community Budgets operated at Oxfordshire County Council, would allow ward councillors the opportunity to address local need at a time when charity and grant funding was restricted due to the economic climate. Small amounts of funding could allow organisations to formulate applications for grant funding from other sources, including the council’s Community Investment Fund, and, due to the small amounts of money involved, meet a need not addressed by other funding streams. The provision of additional broadband funding would facilitate the delivery of broadband to those rural areas omitted from the county council area of coverage.

A number of councillors spoke against the amendment. The council currently offered sufficient grant funding to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

Council considered the report of the Head of Finance on the setting of the Council Tax for the 2013/14 financial year.

Mr Dodds moved and Mrs E A Ducker seconded the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.      to note that at its meeting on 13 December 2012 the council calculated the council tax base 2013/14:

(a)    for the whole council area as 52,607.0 [Item T in the formula in Section 31B of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as amended (the “Act”)]; and

 (b)   for dwellings in those parts of its area to which a parish precept relates as in column 1 of appendix 1 to the report of the Head of Finance to Council on 21 February 2013.

2.      that the council tax requirement for the council’s own purposes for 2013/14 (excluding parish precepts) is £6,187,635.

3.      that the following amounts be calculated for the year 2013/14 in accordance with Sections 31 to 36 of the Act:

(a)    £60,561,476 being the aggregate of the amounts which the council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(2) of the Act taking into account all precepts issued to it by parish councils.

(b)    £50,501,474 being the aggregate of the amounts which the council estimates for the items set out in Section 31A(3) of the Act.

(c)    £10,060,002 being the amount by which the aggregate at (3)(a) above exceeds the aggregate at (3)(b) above, calculated by the council, in accordance with Section 31A(4) of the Act as its council tax requirement for the year.  (Item R in the formula in Section 31B of the Act).

(d)    £191.23 being the amount at (3)(c) above (Item R), all divided by Item T (1(a) above), calculated by the council, in accordance with Section 31B of the Act, as the basic amount of its council tax for the year (including parish precepts).

(e)    £3,872,367 being the aggregate amount of all special items referred to in Section 34(1) of the Act, as set out in column 2 of appendix 1 of the report of the Head of Finance to Council on 21 February 2013.

(f)     £117.62 being the amount at (3)(d) above less the result given by dividing the amount at (3)(e) above by Item T (1(a) above), calculated by the council, in accordance with Section 34(2) of the Act, as the basic amount of its council tax for the year for dwellings in those parts of its area to which no parish precept relates.

4.      to note that for the year 2013/14 Oxfordshire County Council has stated the following amounts in precepts issued to the council, in accordance with Section 40 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, for each of the categories of dwellings shown below:

5.      to note that for the year 2013/14 the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

The General Licensing Committee, at its meeting held on 15 January 2013, resolved to adopt a new single consolidated set of byelaws produced by the Department of Health to regulate all skin piercing activities (acupuncture, tattooing, semi-permanent skin-colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis).

Following the meeting officers clarified that Council is the body responsible for the adoption of such byelaws and suggested revised wording to reflect the legislative requirements and activities covered by these.

A copy of the byelaws for adoption is attached. 

Council is invited to

(1) make new model byelaws under Sections 14 and 15 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 (as amended by the Local Government Act 2003) for the regulation of acupuncture, tattooing, semi-permanent skin-colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis (and revoke existing byelaws) and

(2) authorise the head of legal and democratic services to take all steps necessary to obtain confirmation of the byelaws from the Secretary of State for Health.

The General Licensing Committee, at its meeting held on 15 January 2013, resolved to adopt a new single consolidated set of byelaws produced by the Department of Health to regulate all skin piercing activities (acupuncture, tattooing, semi-permanent skin-colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis).

Following the meeting officers clarified that Council is the body responsible for the adoption of such byelaws. Council considered revised wording to that agreed by the committee to reflect the legislative requirements and activities covered by the byelaws.

RESOLVED:

(1) make new model byelaws under Sections 14 and 15 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 (as amended by the Local Government Act 2003) for the regulation of acupuncture, tattooing, semi-permanent skin-colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis (and revoke existing byelaws) and

(2) authorise the Head of Legal and Democratic Services to take all steps necessary to obtain confirmation of the byelaws from the Secretary of State for Health.

To consider the report of the Section 151 Officer on the designation of the shared Head of Finance as the section 151 officer for both councils from 4 April 2013 (report attached).

Report withdrawn from agenda.

To consider the report of the Head of HR, IT and Customer Services on the adoption of a  pay policy statement to meet the requirements of the Localism Act (report attached).

Council considered the report of the Head of HR, IT and Customer Services on the adoption of a pay policy statement to meet the requirements of the Localism Act.

RESOLVED: to approve the pay policy statement attached to the report of the Head of HR, IT and Customer Services to Council on 21 February 2013.

None.

Purpose: to consider the following motion submitted by Mrs E Hards under Council procedure rule 41:

“That Council make representations to the government by all means available to bring forward an early review of the so-called “bedroom tax” to be brought in as part of the Welfare Reform Bill.

It is becoming apparent that this under-occupation penalty will have a severe impact on members of our local communities particularly people with disabilities.”

Council considered one motion under Council procedure rule 41.

Motion proposed by Mrs E Hards and seconded by Mr D Turner:

 “That Council make representations to the government by all means available to bring forward an early review of the so-called “bedroom tax” to be brought in as part of the Welfare Reform Bill.

It is becoming apparent that this under-occupation penalty will have a severe impact on members of our local communities particularly people with disabilities.”

A number of councillors spoke in support of the motion. The planned changes in allowances, which will reduce housing benefits for people who have a spare room, took no account of disabled people’s adapted homes and the possible need for a carer, of parents sharing custody who will lose the room for their child when visiting or of grandchildren visiting grandparents. There was a shortage of smaller dwellings in the district to meet the demand. Those vulnerable residents forced to leave their neighbourhoods and support networks could increase the demand on the resources of social services. An early review would allow the unintended consequences of the proposal to be addressed.

Those councillors opposing the motion spoke of the need to reform the current scheme to ensure a flexible and fair approach to the housing needs of residents. The housing benefit payable should reflect a person’s or family’s needs in terms of bedrooms required and not automatically cover the cost of the property. This system already operated within the private rental sector. It was too early to undertake a review because the scheme was not yet in place. The government had allocated a £30 million discretionary fund to help vulnerable groups affected by the change. Both the council and SOHA were working with those affected by the proposals to find suitable alternative accommodation or access discretionary housing payments.

On being put to the vote the motion was declared lost.